Potential digital optimisation of the poultry enterprises in Nigeria: a factor analysis of farm-level characteristics

Abstract

Digital technologies portend innovative optimisation of mundane and economic activities. The study assessed poultry farmers' disposition towards relevance of the digital systems for optimizing poultry farming, examined the associated constraints, and identified the underpinning factors. Simple random sampling was employed to select one hundred thirty-seven farmers from the registered group in Osogbo, Nigeria. The validated questionnaires were analysed using descriptive statistics and principal component (factor) analysis. The results showed that farmers prominently agreed that drone deployment in poultry farming reduces high running costs (WMS=3.63 ±0.86). Only 9.3% deployed ICTs for poultry management, while a fully digitalised system was nearly nonexistent (0.7%). The most severe constraints besetting poultry farming digitalisation are poor production scale (WMS=3.78 ±1.4) and fear of cost-ineffectiveness of digitalisation (WMS=2.78 ±1.4). Isolated factors underpinning the potential digitalisation of poultry enterprises are ‘poultry farm operational capacity’, ‘digitalisation familiarity and experience’, and ‘social contact and management dispositions’. These factors jointly accounted for a 78.3% variation in the digitalisation potential of poultry enterprises. In conclusion, advancing digital optimisation of poultry enterprises in Nigeria depends on the potential to improve farmers' socio-economic resilience and external orientation. Therefore, adaptive research should be prioritized to develop socio-economic class-appropriate digital tools for poultry management. Keywords: agricultural enterprise, digital technologies, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), poultry digitalisation, poultry management